Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear is second only to Winnie the Pooh when it comes to famous British bears, with Rupert Bear coming third. Let the arguments commence!

I'm sure there are plenty of other Paddington Bear postcards but this is one issued as a PHQ stamp card by the Royal Mail in 2014, part of a classic Children's TV series.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Bridges, old and new

These first two bridges, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct (opened 1805) in north Wales and the iron bridge (opened 1781) at Ironbridge, were part of an industrial archaeology series of stamps published in 1989.  At the time, the bridge was already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, then, in 2009, the aqueduct was added to the list.

I don't know if this third bridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge will ever join them on the list.  Only time will tell. The stamp was part of the huge series issued to mark the Millennium, this one in June 2000.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"  As usual, click on the link to see some bridges on stamps.

Summer on stamps

I tend to think of the seaside and summer going hand in hand though I have to say that actually living by the seaside is starting to put a dent in that association. This summer has been less than spectacular.

The top set of stamp cards showing "Seaside Architecture" dates from 2014. It included the bandstand stamp that was Royal Mail's Europa offering for the theme of traditional music. It also included Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Blackpool Tower, part of the Pleasure Beach, was featured in 2011 in the A to Z of Britain series.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Butterflies

I would have sworn I had shown these butterfly stamp cards before, but if I did, then I can't find them.  The first is from a recent series, "British Butterflies" issued in 2013, and the second from a series also called "British Butterflies" issued in 1981.

And here is a stamp that arrived just this week, from Belgium, just to make a change from the PHQ stamp cards.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Postal theme

I've shown almost all my postally themed stamp cards in the past so I've had to scrape the barrel. You can't have post without stamps of some sort so I've chosen these two.  It's really only one degree of separation, don't you think?

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Mushrooms

Neither of these PHQ stamp cards are in my possession because I've sent them to people who collect mushroom cards.  Personally, although I find them interesting, I don't think they are attractive at all and even verge on being sinister.  Day of the Triffids and all that.  I think I read that book too young.

The first, as you can see, was issued in 1988 and ten years later came the second.  Interestingly, the 34p stamp was the highest value of the set, as was the 63p in 1998.  Now 63p is the first class internal mail rate, just seven years later again.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Peace and Freedom

When I first thought of the theme of "peace", I thought of a dove but the only stamps cards I could find were Christmas ones, and I've posted them before when the theme was birds, I believe.

Then I thought of the rose called "Peace" but all the roses I could find had other names.  I was sure I had a card of that rose but no, I didn't.

So, I'm left with a set of stamps and stamp cards, not my favourite designs, which were issued in 1995 under the title "Peace & Freedom".  It's something of a conglomeration of anniversaries though I suppose they are all linked in a way to peace:

150th anniversary of the British Red Cross
50th anniversay of the end of World War II
50th anniversary of the United Nations.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its current home at "See it on a Postcard!"

Weapons

I thought I was going to be defeated by weapons (the theme) until I remembered some cards showing the uniforms of various regiments in the British Army.  And they have weapons!

These are two out of a set of five from the 1983 series of stamps and PHQ stamp cards.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its current home at "See it on a Postcard!"

Dinosaurs

At one time, or so it seemed to me, dinosaurs were a very popular choice on Postcrossing wishlists.  It was probably about the time of Jurassic Park.  I bought this set of Royal Mail stamp cards and a second set which was issued more recently.

Of course, dinosaurs have now gone out of fashion and I have only managed to send out 4-5 altogether.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its current home at "See it on a Postcard!"

People at Work

History repeats itself.  There have been men tunnelling under London until just a few weeks ago to create the new Crossrail routes with 21 km of new tunnels.  They have had the benefits of modern tunnelling machines which the men in the stamp card above did not.

These men were creating the first underground electric railway, using a Greathead Shield.  They had to dig out the clay from behind the the shield then force the shield forward.  The original image for the stamp card above came from the London Transport Museum and you can see it on the Transport for London site.

The stamps and stamp cards were issued in 2013 to commemorate 150 years of the London Underground.  I did show this card just over two years ago.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its current home at "See it on a Postcard!"

British gardens

A set of stamps was issued in 1983 to celebrate British gardens.  Not just any gardens, you'll notice, but gardens of stately homes.  They show very nicely the changing style over the years.  The only one I've visited myself is Sissinghurst.  I can recommend it as being well worth a visit.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at "See it on a Postcard!"

Welsh Sheep

I haven't received any Year of the Sheep stamps yet so I've had to settle for this PHQ stamp card.  It was issued as a Wintertime series in 1992.  The others in the series showed a fox, a deer, a redwing and a hare, but these are Welsh Mountain Sheep, a hardy breed.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at See it on a Postcard!

Ships

Slightly odd, I think, for a Christmas issue, but that is what this is.  It is one of a set of five paintings by Peter Le Lievre,  issued by the Guernsey Post Office in 1980.

I had to include the second PHQ card even though the ship doesn't exactly take pride of place.  The Mary Rose was raised from the sea bed in the Solent north of the Isle of Wight and not so far from Portsmouth which is where she now rests, in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.  I went to see here early on in her restoration.

I also chose the card for Henry VIII, currently starring in Wolf Hall on BBC Two.  He's much more handsome in Wolf Hall but so far only got to Queen Number Two, Anne Boleyn.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at See it on a Postcard!

PS Windows 8 is as big a challenge as a broken computer.

Reflections in water

I've always loved reflections in water and that is why I've chosen these two PHQ stamp cards today (yesterday now...)

The top shows the Millennium Bridge in Gateshead.  Hopefully it didn't wobble like the one in London but probably not, as I've heard nothing about it.

The second card shows, so they say, the harbour in Portsmouth.  I lived not so far away and visited from time to time.  I can't say it's instantly recognisable.

I'm still struggling on with this computer but I'm crossing my fingers that by next week I will be singing and dancing.again with no more "Aw, snap" from Chrome or, worse, the blue screen of death.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at See it on a Postcard!

Import export

1990 marked the 25th anniversary of Queen's Award for Export and Technology when these two PHQ stamp cards were issued.  It was originally known as the Queen's Award to Industry, became for Export and Technology in 1975, and then in 1992 Environmental Achievement was added too.

I also found this stamp from India, for the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

which I thought fitted in well with the theme.

I'm continuing to tiptoe around with a poorly computer and, to make things more exciting, an unrelated unreliable internet connection.  Maybe by next week I'll be all singing, all dancing again. Maybe.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at See it on a Postcard!

Astronomy is not astrology

I have had one of those long standing battles with my aging PC this week and have been backing up everything full speed (dead slow).  That should guarantee the aging PC will stagger on for another few months so that I can't justify buying a nice whizzy fast one just yet.  So I apologise for not having visited people.  I should do better .

Astrology evaded me but I found a few examples of astronomy and this one made me smile.  A rather puzzled smile but a smile.

The set of stamps, here shown as PHQ stamp cards, was issued in 1991 to mark Europe in Space and the work at the observatory in the Canary Islands.  They were designed by a Belgian artist (sticking to the European theme) and apparently are intended to make people wonder.  Yes, they do that.  One pair symbolises man looking out to space and the other someone looking back at man.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, in its new home at See it on a Postcard!

Toys on stamps

Andy Pandy was a made-for-television character, a long time ago in the 1950s, but as he was a puppet and seen here with Teddy, I think they qualify as toys. This PHQ stamp card was issued by Royal Mail in a series of Children's TV at the very beginning of the year, 7 January 2014.

From the Ukraine is an illustration resulting from a competition held by UNESCO for children to draw their rights. Until I discovered the title, I was about to complain about the boys playing with toy boats, trains and so on while the girl had a doll.  But she also has a small aeroplane.  The title is "“Girls also want to be pilots!"

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now at See it on a Postcard!

Madonna and Child

Although this card from the Netherlands did have art stamps on it, I had to go to France to find the first Madonna and Child stamp.

It commemorates the 500 years since Rafael painted it in 1512/13. The original hangs in the museum in Dresden.

The Royal Mail quite frequently uses art on stamps, particularly around Christmas time.  I have a set of PHQ (postal headquarters) stamp cards from 1991 which are taken from a 14th century manuscript kept in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

These are just two of the set.  I love the colour and form, but if you look closely at the faces, they do look a little odd though possibly more "real". I prefer them to some more recent versions.

As I said, the original postcard did have art stamps on it too, commemorating Rembrandt
:

And another by Vermeer, that almost everyone will recognise thanks to the recent film, Girl with a Pearl Earring.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Christmas postcards and stamps

I bought several sets of these Royal Mail PHQ Christmas postcards a few years ago and now I'm down to one remaining set.  I'll use them up over the nest few weeks but I'll be sorry to see them go.  They show the images for the 1983 Christmas stamps:

12½p Christmas Post (pillar-box),
16p The Three Kings (chimneys )
20½ World at Peace (a dove and a blackbird)
28p Light of Christmas (street lamp)
31p Christmas Dove (topiary)

As I was looking up what the images represented, I discovered that someone is selling them on Zazzle. Surely that's a copyright issue?

That aside, I found plenty of other bird stamps:

Great Egret from Belarus

Long-eared owl on Belgian stamp

From the Netherlands 

Siberian Crane on stamp from Russia

and a cute little owl from Switzerland.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Renoir in Guernsey

In 1883 Renoir visited Guernsey in the Channel Islands and in 1993 the Post Office issued a set of stamps to commemorate the centenary of his month-long stay.  These are just two of the set of five.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"